For the Record
by LegendaryRoxtar
Summary: If only Summer hadn't turned and walked away after Seth told her the boat was named after her, things would be different.rnI don't own anything Oc, sigh...
1. Default Chapter

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For the record

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If only Summer hadn't turned and walked away after Seth told her that the boat was named after her, things would be different.

"They sent me out to find you. Found you!" she attempted, he laughed for her sake. "I thought you'd be stuffing your pockets with cocktail weenies." She smiled and he laughed a little at her and a little at himself. Was he really that pathetic?

"You can still see him. Chino's not _that _far away."

"I still can't believe he's leaving. I mean, he was my first friendmy only friend."

"You have Me." she offered touching his arm.

"Yah but that's not the same, you have no idea. I was the biggest dork in Newport. This place was _hell _for me, I-I just can't picture what it'll be like without him." She nodded, a little hurt by how sure he was with his first statement. She looked at him, wanting desperately to be able to reach out to him. She had never seen him like this and it kind of scared her. She brushed his face with the back of her hand and tried to sooth him a little, "We'll make it through thisI promise." He didn't believe her, he barely trusted her, and she could see it in his face. He turned to her, "Could you tell them I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Sure." She felt hurt. Hurt for him and hurt that he wouldn't let her in now. She stood and carefully tried to step through the grass in her high heels. She was about 2 meters away from him when he spoke again, "For the record," his face seemed emotionless, almost like he was mocking her in a condescending way, she turned for him to finish, "the boat was named after you."

She didn't smile. She didn't laugh. She knew it was named after her, she knew a lot more too. Instead, she looked down and slowly sat back down beside him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders from the side and rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you." She almost whispered. His face didn't change much. He furrowed his brow; this had not been part of his plan. She was making this so much harder, it hurt more now. She wormed her arms through his so that they were wrapped more around his chest and he rested his hand on her waist and looked out onto the water ahead. "Can we stay like this forever and forget everything else that's going wrong?" his wish seemed so simple and so small, like he was a small child asking his parents to stop fighting. She wished so hard herself that she could say yes' and the wish could come true. Why did he have to make her care so much? She sniffled and turned her head to face him, "Seth"

"Summer, why did things have to go so wrong? They were going so great."

"I know."

"I just, I wish we could rewind and go back to that one moment where things got ruined."

"When was that?"  
"I don't know, when Oliver came, I guess."

"Do you think he'll come back if the baby isn't his?"

"I hope so. But I'm not so sure, I mean, if it's Eddie's, he's not going to let her go back with Eddie. It's all so screwed up right now."

"I wish we could escape and leave it all behind."

"Do you mean it?"

"Huh?"

"If you were given the opportunity to escape, right now, would you take it?" his question seemed anxious and almost dangerous. She looked down and thought about it. "Only if you came with me."

"If I came with you, you'd do it?"  
"In a heartbeat."  
"Let's go then."

"What?"  
"Let's go." He stood up and put out his hand for her to take; "Do you trust me?" She grabbed his hand and jumped up. "Where to?"

"You have no idea how long I've dreamed of asking you this question, but, would you come with me to Tahiti, Summer?" her eyes were confused and scared but excited and gleeful like a child all at the same time.

"It would be my pleasure, Seth." he smiled for the first time in what seemed like eternity. She had called him Seth. He took her hand and they walked away from the wedding where it seemed like they were leaving their hurt behind.

Seth waited in the car as his beloved brunette packed a bag or two for their trip. She had been 15 minutes inside when she appeared back in the doorway, and hopped back into the passenger seat beside him. "Did you leave a note?"

"My dad won't be back until August and my stepmom won't notice I'm gone."

"But"

"But I left one for my dad anyway." She seemed so calm; he wasn't calm at all, although his outward appearance said otherwise.

"Do you still need to pack a bag?"

"No, mine's already packed."

"You were going to go." she stated more than asked. There was a long pause.

"Well what about me?" she sounded so innocent and small.

"Well I"

"You would have left me a note." How did she know all of this? "Seth, I knew. I could see your whole plan written all over your face when we were talking about your boat."

"But when we were talking I told you that I was selling it."

"I know. But I knew that you wanted to run away. I knew you had planned a trip to Tahiti. And I knew that originally it was supposed to be with me. I knew that your boat was named after me. I know a lot more than I let on."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Try and stop you?"

"Yah."

"I don't know, I guess I just didn't know if you'd actually go through with it or not."

"I'm sorry."

"That's okay. I know I can't know what you're going through right now. I mean, yah sure, my mom left me but I was like, six. It's a lot different from losing your brother and your only friend. But hey, at least you know where he'll be. Let's just go. Forget apologies, forget the hurt and the blame, and go."

"Sounds like a dream come true." his dimples showed through again and she smiled and took his hand in hers. They drove out to the harbor as the sun slowly began its descending in the orange sky before them.

They had been on the water for one uneasy night. They were filled with indecision. Were they being selfish? Were they discarding the feelings of those they had left behind in Newport? Summer sighed happily. "Are we there yet?" she laughed. He turned over on his back and faced her. They had not done anything romantic, their minds almost racked with guilt at the thought of leaving everyone at home in frantic worry while they were taking a romantic getaway. It had not been discussed but mutually decided. Besides, neither of them had packed for such a "passionate" situation to occur. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, the sun was just peaking on the horizon. He grabbed his compass from the sail rod and adjusted the sail. "I wonder where we are?" she thought to herself out loud.

"Well," he answered intelligently and pulled out his map, "we are in this general vicinity."

"Ahh, in the big blue."

"Yes, very good."

"How long will it take to get there?"

"21 days. 1 down, 20 to go."

"That's long."

"Yep."

"So, what do we eat?"

"Well, I brought my grill and there's a whack of food in my cooler bag, so we can eat that andfish."

"I guess we should ration it then?"

"Yah, but there's like, millions of islands on our way to Tahiti so its not like we're spending 21 days in isolation on this boat." he could see her sigh of relief. "Squint your eyes straight ahead, do you see it?"

"Oh, an island!"

"That's Calasais. We should get there sometime in the late afternoon. See?" he showed her on the map. "I've been there a few times before."

"Just by yourself?"

"I took Capt. Oats once, just because I had told him so much about it, he just needed to see for himself."

"Oh. Oh, I brought a few disposable cameras!"

"Perfect."

"If my math is correct, we have enough for 5 pictures a day, of course, we should really use them as we please." He nodded, impressed.

"Are you hungry?"

"A bit." He rummaged around for his fishing pole and bait. "There are some peaches in my bag if you want while you wait."

"Great." she pulled out a peach and gobbled it down, it had been the first thing she'd eaten since they'd left. An hour later she was taking a picture of Seth holding up his first catch and then turning away as he cleaned it and cooked it. It wasn't actually bad, she had to admit, it was the most fun of all. A half-hour later they were laughing and eating fish and sipping on Kool-Aid. Much to Seth's surprise, mostly from lack of experience, Summer was easy to have an intelligent conversation with. He guesses that it was because out here there was nobody to impress and no popular people spying on them and she didn't have to be _that_ person. He definitely liked _this _person. She surprised him again when she suggested that they go back. This threw him back a lot. He didn't understand. She told him that she wanted to go back and that his parents would be worried sick. She argued that they weren't to far to go back and that they would forgive him a lot faster. She started to plead when he started to ignore her. She was begging him.

"Please, Seth! Let's go home. I wanna go home! C'mon! Come home! Come home! Come home." She started to cry and he realized that she wasn't sitting across from him on the Summer Breeze' she was in fact sitting on her bed bawling her eyes out for him to come home, in her hand, his note. That's when he woke up from one of the most terrible dreams he had ever had. He looked around him at the vast expanses of waves. Where was he going? What had he done?


	2. The parents

For the Record

Thanks to those who reviewed! This one's a little bit shorter but I will try to update faster. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for this story!

Summary: Seth decides to turn back realizing the mistake that he'd made leaving Newport Beach and all those that he loved in it. Eventually SS, RR! Thanks!

Seth had, had a restless day on the island of Calasais. He had spent most of the day on the beach thinking of whether he should continue with his trip or go straight home. It was pretty clear as he felt as if he needed to be at home right away. No sooner had he decided, then he was on his boat, headed for the mainland.

His mind was flooded with possible situations upon his return. His parents for one, and then there was Summer. He must have been really crazy to go out at all.

His boat seemed to be going at a snails pace and it was frustrating him. Every so often he would look out on the horizon to see if he could see land even though he knew that he had a full day of sailing ahead of him. It would not be a fun day. He was fidgeting. That was bad. Fidgeting on a small little sailboat when there was very little to fidget with and very little room to do it. Calm down.' He thought to himself. But it was no use. He had made a mistake this time.

He rehearsed what he would say to his parents, they would be upset, naturally. It was bad enough that they knew Ryan was going, but then to have Seth leave on top of that, it must have been torture! Of course he had left a note, but that probably wasn't good enough and they deserved more. He had no idea what he was going to say to Summer, partly because he didn't know how she would react to his leaving and partly because he didn't know how she would react to his return.

Seth had a sleepless night. Not because he couldn't sleep, but because he wouldn't. He didn't want to risk another dream like the one from last night. Finally after what seemed like an eternity alone on his boat feeling sick from guilt, the harbor came into view. As he neared the coast a thought entered his mind. Ryan. He hadn't even thought about him much since he left the coast behind two days ago. Maybe he could get along without him after all. Who was he kidding? It wasn't just the fact that Ryan had gotten him out of his hole of unpopularity and had given him the chance to talk to the girl of his dreams, Ryan was his brother, and his best friend.

He sighed as he neared the dock. He was almost expecting someone to be there waiting for him, but was still glad nobody was. He tied up his boat, but was hesitant of actually getting off. Getting off meant stepping back into Newport. And it didn't matter if he was gone a night or a month; he would still be stepping into the same Newport Beach. He searched the docks, who knows what for before carefully getting off of the Summer Breeze' for what would likely be the last time. He couldn't imagine his parents letting him out on it again.

He considered calling home to ask for a ride but he figured he'd rather walk, the less soon he had to deal with home, the better. Every step back to his house was filled with fear. He knew his parents would be yelling at him forever. He stood on the end of his driveway for a few minutes before sighing and trudging forth. He knocked on the door and waited a few minutes. He knew they were home, the Range Rover was parked just feet from where he stood. Finally someone's figure was visible through the frosted glass panels to the side of the door.


	3. The Parents cont'd

Thanks again to all of those who reviewed, I updated as soon as I could because I know I left you hanging! Hope you like it. Please review!

Surprisingly however, it was Jimmy Cooper who answered the door. "Seth! There you are! Your parents have been worried sick, kiddo!" he smiled despite what he was saying. "Good to see you're okay, though." Seth smiled a little back.

"Are they here?" he said as he stepped inside and dropped his bags on the inside of the door.

"Yah, your mom's sleeping." they walked into the kitchen where Sandy was on the phone facing away from them.

"okay. Thank you so much Josh. Yes, I'll tell him. Bye." Sandy whirled around and saw his son.

"Seth." He breathed. "Son, I'm so glad you're home." Sandy had thought carefully about what he would say to Seth first. He knew that Seth would later be reprimanded for his actions, but for now, all Seth needed to know was that they cared. He enveloped his lanky boy in a huge bear hug while Jimmy went upstairs to get Kiersten. "I'm so glad your safe."

"Seth Cohen!" Kiersten screamed as she ran down the stairs, apparently her thoughts on Seth's return had been quite different. "Where have you been!"

"You know where I was." he answered meekly, but looking straight at her.

"How could you justleave like that!?" he tone was quite a bit calmer after seeing that her son was okay. He shrugged and she grabbed him for a tight hug. She was squeezing him so hard he could barely breath, but he kept quiet. His mom didn't hug often. When she let him go he took a few steps back and looked at them both, trying to meet their eyes but finding himself staring at the floor as he quietly said, "I'm sorry."

"Its good that you're sorry, son." Sandy didn't smile, but care and concern lingered strongly in his voice.

"But that doesn't excuse you from what you did."Kiersten said calmly, lifting his chin to look at her.

"I know. I justI just"

"You needed to get out, get away." Jimmy said from behind.

"Yeah, I thought I could escape my problems if I escaped Newport." Seth had never had a problem telling his parents the truth, and how he felt. That was part of why he wasn't the spoiled brat he should have been.

"Well, we all wish that things weren't the way that they are, but there isn't much we can do." Kiersten explained.

"All we can do is take each day at a time, okay?" Sandy said. Seth understood and nodded. They all seemed to take a huge sigh of relief.

"So, how come your back so early?" Sandy said, his tone brightening.

"I didn't see any reason to stay out there, andI got homesick."

"That's my boy." Kiersten smiled.

"Well, I gotta go"Jimmy stated.

"Oh, yes. You go, don't let us keep you here." Sandy said loudly.

"Okay, I'll catch you guys later." Jimmy casually stated at he left their house.

"So?" Seth looked up.

"So what?" he parents shared questioning looks.

"So, that's it?"

"What do you mean?" his dad asked, confused.

"Well, don't I get a verbal lashing of some sort? A punishment? A lecture at least?"

"Did you learn your lesson?"

"Yeah, I guess. Yes."

"Then why would we need any of that?"

"The truth is, Seth, we're just really glad that you're home and you're safe. We couldn't ask for anything more." his mom cut in. Seth let out a silent sigh of relief. He could only hope that Summer's reaction would be similar.


	4. Summer

Disclamer: I don't own any of these characters or places!

A/N: Whoa, okay sorry guys for taking sooo long in updating this one. Computer troubles, you know how it goes. Anyways, I know this is really short so I have the conclusion coming up really soon, maybe even today, but probably tomorrow. I know I left you hanging a little bit on the last one, so enjoy!

Seth waited awhile before venturing over to Summer's. He learned from his parents that Ryan had arrived and settled into Chino safely and that if the baby wasn't his, he was coming home for sure. His parents had praised him for taking so much responsibility in the situation but told him that if it wasn't his, then he shouldn't be the one to pay for Teresa's mistakes, and they needed him at home. So it was decided, if the baby was in fact Eddie's, Ryan was coming home. Seth asked his parents about Marissa, but they said that she had moved straight in with her mom after the wedding and they hadn't seen or heard of her since. He was going to daringly ask about Summer, but thought that it was his battle to fight. Fight and lose, was likely. How he could ever do this to Summer was beyond him. He had acted like such a jerk and in a way he wanted to make it up to her whether she took him back or not. He unpacked all of his things, showered and changed (multiple times) making some last minute efforts to stall, but finally knew there was nothing left in coming home, than Summer. He changed one last time into some black jeans and light blue polo with white stripes. He told his parents where he was going and they fully understood and let him go. He decided to walk, although he should have learned from his walk home from the docks, that walking was the most painful way he could have gone. Every step was filled with him trying to build up false confidence and fear of what was yet to come.

He trotted up the steps and knocked three times on the door before he lost his nerve. A short and stout maid answered the door after a few painful minutes standing in the sun on the porch.

"Oh, uhhi, is Summer home?" his speech was sped up and she gave him a confused face, probably because she couldn't understand English all that well to begin with.

"Summer? At home?"he said slowly and loudly as if she was not only foreign but mentally unwellalso. She motioned for him to come in and he followed a little warily. The lady stood at the bottom of the large staircase in the entrance and shouted something in a language from somewhere south of the border. He heard Summer's voice, "Who is it?" but before waiting for an answer she appeared at the top of the stairs. "Oh."she hesitated before coming down the stairs. He never thought she'd ever been so beautiful. She was wearing faded flares and a caramel peasant top and her hair fell around her shoulders.

"Hey Seth."

"HiSummer."they stood their in a sort of awkward silence for a few minutes watching the maid while she bustled around. "Can we maybe go for a walk?"he pretty well pleaded.

"Uhyeah. Tessa, I'll be back in awhile."she said it slowly but not offensively so, like Seth had. The maid nodded and the two stepped out onto the porch and down the sidewalk.


	5. Summer cont'd Conclusion

Disclaimer: Josh Shwartz owns it all, not me!

A/N: So, I promised I'd update soon, so here it is! Ta-da! This is the final part, so no more updates! This is it! The end! Enjoy!

"So"she started.

"Summer? II was obviously out of my mind, leaving like thatI justI honestly don't know what I was thinking!" he looked at her as he spoke but she didn't look at him.

"Yah, well, it's no big deal." she said snottily. Oh, no.' he thought, She's gone back to being Miss Popular again. That's the end of me, I guess.'

"Really?"

"Yah, I didn't even really notice that you were gone." she lied. He couldn't tell, but she was lying through her teeth. She had totally freaked when she found out he'd left, but she couldn't let him know that. In truth though, she was really glad he was safe and back home.

"You didn't?" he was crestfallen. He slumped his shoulders as he kicked himself mentally asking himself why he'd returned to stupid Newport Beach. She just shrugged and squinted into the sun.

"No, I mean, c'mon Cohen. It's been like what? A day? Maybe two? What did you expect?"

"I thought you'd be upset, like mad at me." he answered honestly and quickly.

"Well, I'm not, so you can go back home."

"Ah, so your true feelings come out. You _are_ upset." she stopped walking and faced him.

"You know what, Cohen?" she sighed and let it all go, "I am upset! I totally freaked when I read your stupid note!"

"I knowI'm sorry"

"No, you don't know! I had no idea if you'd be back, or when, or if you really did love me like your note said. If you loved me, why would you just ditch me like that without saying goodbye, ortaking me with you?!"

"I don't know. I know what I did wasreally stupid. That's why I came back."

"You didn't have to. I'm already over you." she stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh really?" he smiled, not wavered for a moment over what she had just said. Instead he stopped and faced her and kissed her. He didn't touch her at all; he just kissed her softly but meaningfully on the lips. She couldn't resist and kissed him back.

"Okay, so I'm not fully over you." she said when they pulled away from each other, laughing a little at herself. "I mean, you were only gone a day right?"

"Yeah, pretty much." He said, although to him, it was an excruciatingly long two-and-a-half days. "But I'm still so sorry." She sighed and searched his eyes.

"I accept your apology, but you're going to have to make it up to me."

"How so?"

"Well, you could," she turned back in the direction the had been walking before and linked her arm into his as they strolled along again, "take me sailing. I mean, as long as we aren't gone long, I don't want an over-night trip or anything. Just a little bit of sailing for a few hours."

"Got it."

"Woohoo! I'm excited!"

"I'm glad." he pulled her closer to him by slipping his arm around her waist. And they walked into the sunset towards

The End

(of my story, at least)


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